The Ministry of Health's HighCare Agenda has set itself the ambitious goal of making care in the Free State of Bavaria future-proof. It brings together and coordinates existing initiatives – with a competence cluster, a research offensive, and the “Digital Pact for Care.” The ministry is providing over €30 million for the associated action plan. Most of this will go to projects in the fields of digitalization, AI, and future technologies. Today in Munich, more than 40 partners voluntarily signed the Digital Pact for Care, committing themselves to supporting the implementation of the HighCare Agenda and using their expertise to implement appropriate measures. These include the Technical University of Munich (TUM) with its MIRMI institute, the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence, and the Caritas Association of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising e.V.
“The goals of the HighCare Agenda are fully aligned with those of our Geriatronics Research Center,” says Dr. Martina Kohlhuber, scientific director at the TUM facility in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which specializes in assistive robotics. “We are already addressing the known problems in care today by developing assistance systems such as our humanoid robot GARMI, which are specially adapted to the needs of nursing staff and older people. Specifically, the focus is on future relief, support, and security in the care sector. AI and robotics are key factors in increasing the attractiveness of the entire industry.”
Gabriele Stark-Angermeier agrees. The board member of the Caritas Association of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising emphasizes Caritas' commitment in this area: "We want to play an active role in shaping the future of care. For me, the HighCare Initiative means making care accessible to everyone and utilizing all the technical possibilities available to us. Everything that has been anchored in the agenda serves this purpose. A promising step into the future."
With the Campus in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Caritas and TUM, together with LongLeif gGmbH, are helping to secure the future of care and ensuring that robotics is tested in practice and can be applied to future care needs.
The DLR, with its Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, is also among the signatories of the HighCare Agenda. This means that another player is involved in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen region, because: Under the leadership of the DLR, the SMiLE2getherGaPa research project is conducting research into service robotics for people with disabilities in collaboration with Caritas, TUM, and the Catholic University of Applied Sciences in Munich. The location for this is the St. Vinzenz retirement home in the market town.